ZIP 50836 vs ZIP 50835

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50836 (Blockton, IA) and ZIP 50835 (Benton, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50836 has a population of 457 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 50835 has 92 at 2 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 50836 reports a median household income of $81,500 against $58,125 in ZIP 50835, with per-capita income of $61,065 vs $34,154. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.2% in 50836 and 27.7% in 50835. Poverty rate reads 5.6% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 0.0% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $152,500 in 50836 versus — in 50835, with median rent of $830 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.8% vs 62.8%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.